Review: Torchlight II

Developer: Runic Games

Platform: PC

Torchlight II is the Diablo III I wish I
had played.Runic Games’ sequel to the
popular action role playing game Torchlight vastly expands the world while
retaining the same classic game play from the first game.By continuing to use the same core mechanics,
Runic Games has created a larger, more dynamic world without alienating their
existing fans.

Story

Torchlight II takes place several years
after the first game with all new playable characters: the Outlander, the
Embermage, the Berserker, and the Engineer.The story begins with your chosen character accepting a quest to follow
the path of The Alchemist.After the
events of the first game, The Alchemist has become obsessed with Ember and the
Ember Blight.Eventually, he steals the
Heart of Ordrak and, once again, the town of Torchlight is met with its
demise.As The Alchemist moves from region
to region gathering the magical energy of the Elemental Guardians, a new hero
emerges at the Estherian Steppes to stop The Alchemist.

The story takes place over 3 Acts and 1
Epilogue.Players move through the
Estherian Steppes, the Mana

Wastes, Grunnheim, and the Broken Mines.The flow and structure of the Acts are
reminiscent of Diablo II where players moved from town to desert to forest and
lastly, the underground.Quests are
obtained by speaking to NPCs as the player follows in the wake of The
Alchemist’s destructive path.Cut
scenes provide the bulk of the story; however while beautifully animated, the
cut scenes barely progress the story and lack depth.This is primarily a loot driven game with a
simple story line: Stop the Alchemist before it is too late.

Game
Play

The game play in Torchlight II has not
changed vastly from the first to the second game.Item pick up, skill point management, enchantments,
and fishing all remain more or less the exact same.What has changed is the landscape: Torchlight
II is massive in comparison to Torchlight.With the destruction of Torchlight, the game offers new regions full of
a variety of seemingly never ending dungeons.There are more quests, more loot to be found, and more enemies.

All of the terrain and dungeons are
randomly generated as well as all item drops in the game.In addition to

larger terrain, Torchlight II
also boasts a day/night system with weather effects.I found the night cycle with adverse weather
led to missing loot or having to go back to an area to ensure everything had
been picked up.Players can also fast
travel from one region to the next similar to Diablo II as well as customize
their character’s gender, looks, and overall style.Torchlight II is more about customization and
exploration than Torchlight.

Similar to the first Torchlight, Torchlight
II is all about inventory management and finding the best loot.As a bit of an item hoarder, this is always
one of the most difficult aspects of any loot driven game I play.In order to help manage inventory, pets are
back in Torchlight II.Your pet carries
a decent amount of items and will sell your items so you can continue killing
monsters without taking a break.Your pet’s
battle stats can now be manipulated by a dog tag and collar.Collars and tags can be found throughout the
game and greatly help your pet be successful in battle.I found myself rarely needing to heal my pet
as a result of increasing its health through the use of enchanted pet collars.

Another change in Torchlight II from its
predecessor is the introduction of the New Game Plus option after completing
the game.Players retain their inventory
after completing the main story and all monsters start at level 51.The environments and quests are all reset in
the New Game Plus mode in order to keep things refreshing for the second play
through.In addition to the New Game
Plus mode, players can also co-op the campaign online through the multiplayer.Players who have not completed the campaign
once cannot play with New Game Plus players.

The final change in Torchlight II is the
introduction of GUTS on April 1, 2013.The GUTS system allows players to create their own mods for the
game.Mods are available through the
Steam Workshop and provide additional changes that increase the replay value of
Torchlight II.Community generated mods
help bring a vibrant, refreshing change to a game that could otherwise become
stale. Game play has not changed
considerably in Torchlight II from Torchlight, yet the additions have proven to
increase an already immensely enjoyable experience.

Visuals/Audio

Torchlight II’s introduction of larger
environments has led to an increased level of detail throughout the game.Torchlight II is far more polished and chock
full of monsters in every area.Characters and monsters alike have received greater attention to armor
design.Changing armor and weapons in
the game drastically alters the visual appearance of your character.I particularly enjoyed this over the first
game where everything felt very linear.

Characters also feel fluid in battle as
well as running areas.The overland
areas encourage exploration and tiny details really add to the overall
experience.A beautiful score accompanies
the visuals to create an exciting atmosphere.I found the music to almost be encouraging at time when enemies were
swarming.Dungeons at times felt
incredibly eerie and scary as monster would occasionally pop out of an area
unexpectedly.The combination of steam
punk visuals and atmospheric music work exceptionally well in Torchlight II.

Summary

Torchlight II is everything you want an
ARPG to be.The excellent game play,
endless dungeons, expansive environments, epic loot drops, and community mods
have created a game that encourages the player to thoroughly explore the world
of Torchlight in more than one play through.With a price point of $20 on Steam and the content of an AAA title,
Torchlight II should be on every gamer’s list!